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      MATCH PREVIEW

WEST BROMWICH ALBION v EVERTON
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 1st September 2012, 3pm
The Hawthorns

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Baggies' boss Steve Clarke is hoping to have a virtually fully fit squad to choose from for Saturday's game against Everton at The Hawthorns. Clarke made wholesale changes for the midweek trip to Yeovil, with a number of players missing out due to minor injuries. Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie is the biggest doubt after suffering a thigh injury ahead of last weekend's game against Spurs. Winger Jerome Thomas will definitely miss out with a hip injury.

Deadline day signing Goran Popov, signed on a season-long loan from Dynamo Kiev, is unavailable for selection.

Squad: Foster, Reid, Ridgewell, Olsson, McAuley, Yacob, Mulumbu, Morrison, Odemwingie, Gera, Long, Myhill, El Ghanassy, Rosenberg, Dorrans, Tamas, Jara, Lukaku, Jones, Allan, Thorne, Brunt, Fortuné, Dawson.

Everton

Everton will be boosted by the news that Phil Neville and Tony Hibbert are both fit for selection after originally being doubts for the game. David Moyes will therefore pick from a fully fit squad.

Bryan Oviedo, who was a target for Albion before eventually signing for Everton on friday, will not feature.

Squad: Howard, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Neville, Gibson, Osman, Fellaini, Pienaar, Naismith, Jelavic, Mucha, Hibbert, Heitinga, Mirallas, Barkley, Francisco, Coleman, Gueye, Vellios, Anichebe, Duffy, McAleny.

QUOTES

Albion head coach Steve Clarke:

“Everton have had a solid start, with a great first performance at home to Manchester United.

“I was there that night and Goodison Park was rocking, there was a great atmosphere, a terrific performance and a well deserved three points.

“I watched the DVD of the game at Villa, they scored early and controlled the game really well.

"David Moyes has been there a long time, so he knows what he needs.

“He has made some really astute signings over the last year which has improved his team and his squad, and they will be one of the teams who realistically can look to challenge towards the top six this year.

“They are a good solid club, they always do their business well, they are always competitive and we expect a difficult game.

“But I'm hoping Everton are coming down to The Hawthorns expecting a difficult game as well because that is what we aim to do, is make it really difficult for them.”
“They have started well but they have got good players.

www.wba.co.uk

Everton assistant manager Steve Round:

“I think West Brom are a really good team. I was at the game against Liverpool and we had scouts at Tottenham.

"They are very hard working, well-disciplined team. They are very difficult to score against and very difficult to beat. They have got senior players everywhere, they had a good season last year and will be aiming for top 10.”

www.evertonfc.com

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 15/8, Everton Win: 7/5, Draw: 23/10 .

First Goalscorer

Jelavic 5/1, Odemwingie 6/1, Long 7/1, Lukaku 7/1, Mirallas 7/1, Fortune 8/1, Rosenberg 8/1, Anichebe 8/1, Naismith 8/1, Vellios 8/1, Fellaini 9/1, Morrison 10/1, Gueye 10/1, Brunt 11/1, Dorrans 11/1, Gera 11/1, Pienaar 11/1, El Ghanassy 12/1, Osman 12/1, Baines 16/1, Barkley 16/1, Gibson 18/1.

REFEREE

Jonathan Moss (West Yorkshire) - Refereed three Albion games last season: Everton (A, League Cup, 1-2); Swansea City (H, 1-2); Queens Park Rangers (H, 1-0).

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets are currently on general sale to home fans only, however, the Smethwick End is now sold out whilst availability is limited in the Birmingham Road End and East Stand. The game is sold out for Everton fans.

WEATHER FORECAST

Cloudy but dry, 18°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

Both Albion and Everton are founder members of the Football League and the very first meeting between the two sides came during the league's inaugural season in 1888/89. The first game took place at Everton's Anfield Road ground in December, Albion running out 4-1 winners thanks to two goals from Billy Bassett and one apiece from Walter Perry and William Hendry. The return game at Stoney Lane saw Albion complete the double over the Merseysiders thanks to a 1-0 win in what was the last game of the season, Fred Crabtree the goalscorer.

Albion's biggest victory against Everton came in December 1935 at The Hawthorns, legendary striker W.G Richardson scoring two of the goals in a 6-1 stroll. Other big wins for the Baggies' include 6-2 in March 1960 when Derek Kevan scored five of the goals, 5-0 in 1923 and 5-2 in 1919.

The Toffees' best result against Albion is 7-1, achieved in 1893 at Goodison Park, Jack Southworth scoring six of the goals. Everton have also recorded 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3 victories against the Baggies over the years.

Albion's last victory against Everton at The Hawthorns came in the final game of the 2010/11 season when Youssouf Mulumbu scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win for Roy Hodgson's men. Since that victory, Albion have lost three successive games against Everton.




LAST MEETING AT THE HAWTHORNS

Albion 0-1 Everton
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 1st January 2012, 12.30pm

Albion: Foster, Jones, Shorey, McAuley, Dawson, Brunt (Dorrans 90+3), Scharner, Morrison, Thomas, Odemwingie, Long. Subs Not Used: Fulop, Tchoyi, Cox, Thorne, Fortune, Jara Reyes.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Rodwell (Gueye 57), Neville (Anichebe 65), Heitinga, Osman, Cahill, Saha (Stracqualursi 65). Subs Not Used: Mucha, McFadden, Bilyaletdinov, Barkley.

Booked: Baines (foul 85), Stracqualursi (foul 90+3).

Goalscorer: Anichebe 87.

Attendance: 23,038

Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).

Everton substitute Victor Anichebe scored his first Barclays Premier League goal of the season to earn his side victory against West Brom at the Hawthorns. Anichebe struck with three minutes remaining after Albion had failed to clear a cross from Tony Hibbert. It earned the Toffees their fourth away win of the campaign and allowed them to leapfrog Albion in the table. The Baggies have won only two of their home league games this season and their tally of seven goals in front of their home fans remains the joint worst record in the top four divisions.

Both sides had struggled to carve out clear-cut openings before Anichebe struck with Toffees keeper Tim Howard not having a shot to save in the entire 90 minutes. Albion were the first to settle and winger Jerome Thomas got on the end of a low ball into the danger area from Billy Jones but lost his footing. It was 18 minutes before the first reasonable opportunity when Shane Long headed just over after getting on the receiving end of a deep centre from West Brom skipper Chris Brunt. Then John Heitinga produced a fine tackle inside the Everton area to halt the run of James Morrison. West Brom keeper Ben Foster flapped at an overhead kick from Louis Saha following a Leon Osman corner. But the former England keeper atoned for his error by rushing out to block the resulting shot from Jack Rodwell. Everton looked the more likely to break the deadlock and Nicky Shorey blocked a fierce drive from Leighton Baines after his initial corner was half cleared. Saha sent a half-volley just past the post after Albion failed to clear a Baines free-kick fully. Everton defender Phil Jagielka screwed a shot just wide from another Baines centre. Albion looked short of attacking ideas and Heitinga blocked a long-range attempt from Peter Odemwingie. Rodwell should have done better with a free header from a Baines corner but he directed it wide.

Albion showed more purpose at the start of the second period and Odemwingie missed a clear chance after 47 minutes. The Nigeria international stayed onside in running onto a looping header forward from Morrison and got clear of the Everton rearguard. But Odemwingie lacked composure and lifted his shot over the bar. Jagielka did well to cut out a low Jones cross with Long waiting in space behind him to take advantage. Heitinga managed to nick the ball away from Odemwingie as he prepared to shoot inside the Everton area. Morrison floated a pass over the Everton defence to Brunt but Sylvain Distin had read the move and was able to get back and block his shot. Foster saved a volley from Everton substitute Magaye Gueye at the foot of a post. Then, with three minutes left, Anichebe netted the winner. Osman's neat flick found Hibbert in space and Scharner failed to deal with his cross. The ball broke to Anichebe who slotted home his first league goal of the season.

Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

None.

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Brett Angell, Walter Boyes, David Burrows, Kevin Campbell, Stan Davies, Thomas Dilly, Peter Eastoe, Tony Grant, Andy Gray, Asa Hartford, Paul Holmes, William Jordan, Kevin Kilbane, Andy King, Ken McNaught, John Thomas, Mickey Thomas, Imre Varadi and Steve Watson.

Wilf Dixon was a trainer at both clubs.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS EVERTON

 VENUE P W D  L F A
 Home 74 39 18 17 147 85
 Away 78 16 16 46 96 166
 Neutral 3 2 0 1 3 2
 Total 155 57 34 64 246 253

LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST EVERTON

 DATE  COMPETITION H/A F-A  GOALSCORERS  GATE
 Sat 31 Mar 2012  Premier League A 0-2  McAuley (og), Anichebe  32,051
 Sun 01 Jan 2012  Premier League H 0-1  Anichebe  23,038
 Wed 21 Sep 2011  League Cup A 1-2 aet  Brunt (pen) - Fellaini, Neville  17,647
 Sat 14 May 2011  Premier League H 1-0  Mulumbu  25,838
 Sat 27 Nov 2010  Premier League A 4-1  Scharner, Brunt, Tchoyi, Mulumbu - Cahill  35,237
 Sat 28 Feb 2009  Premier League A 0-2  Cahill, Saha  33,898
 Sat 23 Aug 2008  Premier League H 1-2  Bednar (pen) - Osman, Yakubu  26,190
 Sun 07 May 2006  Premier League A 2-2  Gera, Martinez - Anichebe, Ferguson  39,671
 Sat 19 Nov 2005  Premier League H 4-0  Ellington 2 (1 pen), Clement, Earnshaw  24,784
 Sun 03 Apr 2005  Premier League H 1-0  Gera  26,805

 

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